Read-along Discussion Post #1- The Homing Pigeons... by Sid Bahri

As most of you know by now, Ankita @ Booklok Coffee, Nimi @ The Readers Cosmos and Janhvi and I are reading The Homing Pigeons... by Sid Bahri as part of The Homing Pigeons... Read-along. 

The first discussion post (of the first 105 pages of the book) is up on Nimi's blog. 

You can check it out right here. Below, we're answering all the nice questions posed by Nimi. 

Also, those of you who wish to join us right now can still do so. Just go to the main post for all the info you'll need and follow/ join us on Twitter using the hashtag #THPReadAlong. 

Nimi's question: "Why did Aditya do it? Will any person with a character do it?"

Janhvi: I think Aditya did it because he was desperate. He didn't have any real support system from his parents or his wife which led him to make the decisions he did. I liked that he felt guilty and didn't try to justify his actions after an extent. Everyone in life is made of shades of grey and I think Aditya just proves it right.

Sarika: Looking at Aditya's situation (employment and home), doing what he did was the last resort for him and he took it up. As for character, Aditya too had his doubts and tons of them. His brain wanted to do it but his heart was stopping him. 

The fact that he had to think so much before taking up prostitution in itself shows that he is a rational and respectful being who gave a thought to others' reactions to him and his new found job. 

Nimi's question: Is it right for the independent women of today like Divya to hire a male prostitute? (this was never a question that I had but since many readers posed it, I thought of addressing it in my style) 

Janhvi: I am a total believer in equal opportunities so yes, definitely. To each his own or in this case, her own.

Sarika: I think, yes. In today's context, yes, definitely yes. And besides, why not? 

Personally, I don't have a concrete opinion on it as of now, but from what I hear and read these days, it's definitely out there.  

Nimi's question: Why did Radhika marry a rich man she didn't love?

Janhvi: As we continue to see Radhika's point of view, it is obvious that she has had abandonment issues since childhood. I think that has made her look out for herself first, always. That is the only reason I can think of behind her marrying a rich man. She needed the comfort of knowing that she had stability.

Sarika: After all the love she never got, what Radhika did was quite sensible. Waiting for the right person to come along is alright, but how long can one wait and who is "right" anyway? 

So I think that what Radhika did was fine and I think she did it because she was just fed up of the games destiny and love were playing with her and the games which she lost miserably. 

Nimi's question: Likes and Dislikes from the story:

Janhvi: There is nothing that I'm disliking about the story. It is written beautifully and I'm enjoying losing myself in it. I am super curious to see how Aditya and Radhika's paths will intertwine. We're getting insight into the characters' pasts which is adding a ton of depth to them.

Sarika: I love love love the author's writing and the beautiful flow between past and present and back and forth concept. I have praised the writing a lot and I know that how much ever I praise it, it's not going to be enough. 

As for the story in itself  like I do with most Indian novels, I couldn't relate to it in the Indian context except for the beauty and hurt and everything about love in general. 

Do stop by Booklok Coffee on July 10 for Ankita's discussion post and then back here on July 15 for the final wrap up post. I hope you are all having a great time reading the book and liking it as well. See you all at the next discussion. Till then, happy reading!